Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says they don’t have inside information to execute the downfall of his former club, Esperance de Tunis, acknowledging that the Tunisian giants underwent a transitional period since his departure.

The Brazilians will host the Taraji in the capital city at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday in what will be the first leg of their CAF Champions League quarterfinals tie before jetting off to Tunisia for the return leg a week later.

Cardoso knocked out Sundowns in the semi-finals of Africa’s elite club competition last season in charge of Esperance en route to the final, where they lost to Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly, who made it 12 titles with the triumph.

Ahead of the much-anticipated clash, the 52-year-old tactician is not banking on his previous experience and knowledge of the club, highlighting that there has been a massive change in playing personnel.

“What I knew from Esperance was the starting point in terms of analysis of course. The team has changed a lot since we left; it also changed because different players joined the team. So, the team is different from the one that Sundowns played last year in terms of players and style of play,” said Cardoso.

“But also, the team has become different since we left; many months have passed, and two coaches coached Esperance after me. This new coach will certainly bring something new to the team, but we expect the team to be loyal to the identity of Esperance.

“So, as a club, they have a big identity regarding the way they play. We don’t expect [an easy game]; we expect them to be loyal to their game. But what we expect is exactly what we’re going to do – this is how we face the quarterfinals or any other match of this level.” 

The Downs mentor urged his troops to be focused across the two legs with a spot in the last four at stake. Furthermore, the Portuguese gaffer warned that any outcome from the first match wouldn’t be the finished article in terms of progressing to the next round.

“It’s about understanding which game and team we are going to face, the induvial characteristics of the players, but most importantly how we set up ourselves to profit from the things that eventually have a say [in the game],” he added.

“We need to take care of how they are going to aggress us because these types of matches are not 90-minute matches but a 180-minute match. And we are just playing the first half, so we are clearly under the mindset to understand that whatever happens on Tuesday there will still be more 90 minutes to play.

“And it’s the outcome of those two games that’s going to say if we go ahead in the competition, but we are going to start from the first minute of those 180 minutes to search for the result we need to go ahead.”

Masandawana will be searching for their first-ever victory over Esperance after failing to do so in four attempts. The Tunisians have won three of their four meetings with the South African champions with the other match ending as a goalless stalemate in June 2017.